Self Destructive Behaviors and Nutrition

Oh...why is it before Ironman your legs feel like they weigh 900 million pounds? Today, I rode the Carthage ride with Hal, Leo, Quincy, Mike, Zodie, and Bob. While it was fun and my friend, Leo, swears the hills were not that big...it hurt. We did come in a little over 3 minutes faster than 2 weeks ago. Stuff hurt...hips, priformis muscle (thanks Ginger for telling me what the heck that was), legs...OUCH. I probably worked way harder than necessary but all in all it was a fairly good ride. The ride was for the Special Forces Association who raise money to help families of Special Forces that were wounded or killed in action. It was a great cause, the weather was perfect and I was in good company.

Today, I was reading my friend, Amelia's, blog (http://www.sbrtricoach.com/). Amelia is a local triathlon coach who I met at our first coaching clinic a few years ago. While I do not talk to her that much anymore, she helped me through some very difficult times in my life. She talks in her blog about several things but the two topics that hit home with me were self-destructive behavior and nutrition. She says, "So when do triathletes engage in self-destructive behavior? The most common scenario leads to overtraining. As the art and science of triathlon have evolved, we’ve learned that we should ‘periodize’ our training." This is true. Somehow we think more is better and even with a degree in PE and lots of training in the subject, I do this too. The bad thing is that now I am ready to give up triathlon because I do not know when to back off. So, the best advice I can give to people is to actually rest and have easy days when you actually go easy and don't feel like because you do not stay with the pack one day, you suck. Actually, this could help you out more than you know and you can bypass the pack!

Now, nutritionally, we all have self-destructive behaviors. We all have our thing that we love and it is not good for us. Now, I do think that all things in moderation are okay. Sometimes a piece of cake will not kill you and it will curb the sweet tooth. Unfortunately, for me, I cannot have one piece of cake...it is several pieces and then some. So, what can you do if you have this problem? Well, there are many several different schools of thought on that...what has worked for me sometimes is to completely give that thing up and write it down and give it to someone who will keep me to it (Thanks Hal). It does not mean I cannot have a treat but I know that I cannot eat just one piece of cake. Does it always work? No. The problem with the wealth of nutritional information we get bombarded with is that it is hard to tell what is going to work for each of us individually. That is the key...what works for each of individually. Find what works for you and do it! I will say that the healthier I eat the better I feel and usually perform better. Be careful here and do not take it too far and end up focusing only on food. Again, everything in moderation.